Following our disasterous exit from East London and our subsequent return, all in the early hours of Saturday morning, we have thought and rethought our options and have decided to go for a repair of the broken mast. This mast did break before, when Arthur pushed it to its limits in a strong wind with full sail up and we have discovered now, on investigation, that he conducted the repair himself. Not to put any slight on his abilities, he was not a fibreglass expert, and his repair was just not strong or robust enough. The mast broke in exactly the same place as before, and was clearly due to an inadequate repair. We have taken advice from Keith Fenn, who manufactures kayaks for export and who is an expert in working with fibreglass and he has kindly assisted us with advise and his expertise. We have removed the two pieces of the mast off Boundless and Stewart has ground down the broken edges and begun with the repair. Our sail was also slightly torn, when it was pulled onto the boat and it has also gone in for repairs.
As well as having mast problems, we had an overheating issue with our motor, due to a blown head gasket. It never rains but it pours!. We have arranged for a new gasket set to be couriered from Cape Town.
Work has begun again and we are back to mess on the boat, but hopefully this will be the last of our problems and we will be able to get sailing soon!!
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